ROMEO & JULIET

Using an American trailer park as a backdrop, this iconic Shakespearean tragedy/romance is re-imagined by director Gretchen Ferris in Zephyer Rep's production of Romeo and Juliet.

The tale of two star-crossed lovers who discover that true love doesn't always heed generations-long grudges. Will these two lovebirds work through an age old family rivalry and live happily ever after? Do they ever? Love, tears, epic fight scenes, and laughs: come and be reminded why Shakespeare's words are still relevant and touching today.

Yokko (Poseidon/Charybdis) is a second year student at the Pace University pursuing an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School. Her favorite roles intrude: Tiresias from Antigone, Helen from Helen, Bonnie from Hurley Burly and Roberta from Danny and the Deep blue sea. She is now working on Lina from The Three days of Rain (ASDS Scene Festival at Pace) opening this December. She is very happy and excited to be working with our director Dana! Also, she wants to say thank you to all the cast member and crew! This is her debut at the Wings Theatre! Enjoy the show!!

Jordan Chin (Gregory/Apothecary): Jordan is an intern at the Wings Theatre and is pleased to be a part of this production of Romeo and Juliet. She has studied at Playwrights Horizons as well as the Lee Strasberg Institute for Theatre and Film as a student of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Jordan has been performing since childhood, appearing frequently in both theatre and film productions. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Jordan now resides in Brooklyn, NY and gives many thanks to her friends and family for supporting her!

Jeffrey Coyne (Lord Montague): Jeffrey Coyne, a trial attorney with fourteen years' experience, caught the acting bug with a lead role in the feature film Pussyfoot. Not beating around the bush, in May of this year Jeffrey moved to the stage appearing in a lead role in the one act play "The Dog House", followed by an appearance in "The Patent Application" at the International CringFest, and most recently appearing in Julius Caesar. He is presently very happy bringing the Bard to life at Wings Theatre.

Robert Getz (Tybalt): Robert is delighted to join the cast of Romeo and Juliet. He was recently seen on stage in Angel Dog and Trepidation Nation: A Phobic Anthology. A few past favorite credits include Hero in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, and Norman in Norman! Is That You?

David J Goldberg (Friar Lawrence): David is a New York based actor and a native of Washington DC. A graduate of Emerson College he has also trained at The Atlantic Acting School and The Simon Studio in New York City. Recent off-off and off-Broadway credits include Population: 8 at the SoHo Playhouse, Disengaged with The Sapling Theater Company, Sticky! at the Bowery Poetry Club, and most recently as a featured performer in Kokopelli Theater Company and St. Fortune Productions' This Tastes Funny! cannibal plays festival. He is thrilled to be working with Gretchen and the cast to bring this production to life.

Brooke Howard (Juliet): Brooke Howard is graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she studied at the Experimental Theater Wing in NYC and Amsterdam, and is currently studying at Stonestreet Studios. Favorite roles include: Hecuba in The Trojan Women (dir. Kevin Kuhlke), Nancy in Oliver! (dir. Lear deBesonnet), and Ensemble member in Taylor Mac's Walk Across America for Mother Earth (dir. Paul Zimmet). Thank you so much to Gretchen, cast, crew, and the Wings Theatre/ Zephyer Rep for such an amazing opportunity and experience! As always, thanks to Mom, Dad, and Lindzi, I couldn't do any of this without you! Thank you Dan for always being my perfect Romeo. And h.a.m. I love you guys.

Brady Kirchberg (Paris): After studying theater at Bowdoin College, Brady worked professionally in Washington DC and then New York, in productions including Angels in America, The Goat…Or Who Is Sylvia?, and Manuscript. Brady’s film credits include various independent films, commercials, and shorts, including a Discovery Channel pilot. Brady is a proud graduate of the William Esper Studio and founder of Red Wheelbarrow Productions. This is Brady's debut with Wings Theater/Zephyer Rep. Thanks to Gretchen and the fabulous cast and crew! www.bradykirchberg.com

Richard McDonald (Lord Capulet): Born in Melbourne to a Fijian mother and Australian father, Richard McDonald was raised in California and discovered acting after graduating in Economics from UC Davis. Past roles Richard has enjoyed include Pertuchio in The Taming of the Shrew, Truffaldino in A Servant of Two Masters & Saturninus in Titus Andronicus. Having studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Richard has also worked on the SistaPAC webisode Kindred as well as other film projects. Outside of the acting world Richard enjoys sports as well as cooking, dancing, singing, and traveling all over the world. He would like to thank family (esp Keri), friends, & of course his lady, his love Maude.

Katharine McKenzie (Lady Montague): Katharine McKenzie began life in a trailer in Maryland, then wrangled a bachelor's degree in history and pre-veterinary medicine from the University of Notre Dame. Instead of going to veterinary school, she promptly ran away to New York City to be an actress.

David Melchionne (Sampson/Peter): David Melchionne is a recent graduate of Le Moyne College where he studied Theatre, French, and Philosophy. He appeared in several productions there, such as Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and Jaques in As You Like It. He is thrilled to be returning to the wings stage to work with such a talented group of artists.

Rebecca Nerz (Mercutio): Rebecca is an actress living in Brooklyn. She recently appeared in As I Am Fully Known which was featured in the 2010 New York Fringe Festival. Regional credits include Ghosts, Mrs. Warren's Profession,Tobacco Road (Triad Stage) Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Carolina Jack (Theatre 232). Educational credits include: The Rimer's of Eldritch, Private Lives, and the Revenger's Tragedy (UNCG Theatre). She received her BFA in Acting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Carolina Ravassa (Nurse): Carolina Ravassa has been dancing, singing and acting since the age of four. She has performed in Eve Ensler's Fur is Back at the National Comedy Theatre and was also in NYC's Fringe Festival. Her film work includes Disney's Step Up 3-D, Discovery Channel's Nueva York, and indie films in her home town, Cali, Colombia. Besides acting, she also loved studying with Augusto Boal in Rio de Janeiro, while understanding the power of socio-political change through images and drama. She is very excited to be in this production of Romeo and Juliet, and would like to thank Gretchen and the Zephyer Rep for a second opportunity to perform here.

Dan Sickles (Romeo): Dan Sickles is a recent graduate from Tisch School of the Arts. Past roles include: Hamlet (Theater 80 NYC), Amir in To Pay the Price directed by Robert Kalfin (The Mint Theater NYC), The Little Monk in Galileo, also directed by Kalfin(Skirball Center NYC), and Prior Walter in Angels in America: Millenium Approaches at Tisch School of the Arts. Next month he will be starring as Konstantin in The Seagull, at Columbia Graduate School, directed by Jimmy Maize. Thanks to Gretchen and the cast.

Elena Skopetos is currently pursuing her BA in Theatre at Marymount Manhattan College. This is her third show with Zephyer, past credits include Periwinkle Odyssey and Balthasar in Romeo and Juliet. She was recently seen as a member of the ensemble in RENT (Phoenix Productions). Favorite Roles include: Miss Scarlett in Clue and Catherine in Pippin. She would like to thank Kymm and Blake for this wonderful opportunity, as well as her family and friends for their constant love and support! This one's for Buffy!

Christopher Stokes (Benvolio): Christopher studied with the New Zenith Theatre in Connecticut working with and performing for young audiences and magnet schools. He received his B.F.A from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. Off-off credits include: All Gone West, Othello, Ladies First (NY Premiere),Symphony Pastorale (NY Premiere) and Fuge Series (NY Premiere). International: Puck's Dream (Stockholm, Sweden). Other credits include: Dancing at Lughnasa, Twelfth Night, Life Under Water, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and The Crucible.

Jared Thompson (Prince): A recent graduate from the North Carolina School of the Arts, Jared is excited to have his first debut show with the Zephyer Rep. Some of his favorite roles include John Ryder in Two Shakespearean Actors; Howard Bevans in Picnic; and a workshop as Claudius in Hamlet. Film: Independent Web Series as Jared in "Beach Week" and George in a UNCSA film The Dissapearing Act. Thanks to NCSA for all these tools. Love to my Family and Mackenzie. www.jared-thompson.com

Courtney Alana Ward (Lady Capulet): Courtney Alana Ward just graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She is thrilled to be starting off her New York theatre experience in Romeo & Juliet. She would like to thank her family and roommates for all of their love and support.

Gretchen Ferris (Director): Gretchen Ferris is an actor/director/casting director working out of New York City. NY directing credits include: Chains of Dew (Zephyer Rep/Wings Theatre), Lysistrata (Phare Play Productions), Wincing at the Light (Love Creek) and a reading of Dinner at Seven with the Manhattan Shakespeare Project. Most recently, she was seen onstage and as a co-producer for As I Am Fully Know with The 8 o'Clocks in FringeNYC, and she will be directing with the Looking Glass Theatre this winter. Her casting credits range from feature film to commercial to theatre, and she holds theatre degrees from Lenoir-Rhyne College, Florida State University and the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Emily Rolston (Production Stage Manager) is a recent graduate of Le Moyne College with a BA in Theatre, where she primarily stage managed while dabbling in scenic and lighting designs. She has worked as a stage manager for Wingspan Arts and Syracuse, NY's Gifford Family Theatre, both children's theatres. She is now the entering her tenth show as Production Stage Manager with Zephyer Rep/Wings Theatre. Recent stage management credits include Unfortunate Honeymoon with Zephyer Rep, and As You Like It at Le Moyne.

Matt Klane (Fight Choreography) is just coming off a hit run of The Unfortunate Honeymoon of Tony and Steve (as Tony) and serves as a producer for Zephyer Rep and National Lampoon. Matt is a fully trained advanced actor-combatant with the SAFD. He holds a teaching license from New York State, and has taught undergraduate Stage Combat courses in three states.

Dana Dobreva (Production Manager) is a resident director at Zephyer Rep. Credits include: Machinal,Bird House,Buried, Arrested, Polaroid Stories, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Butterfly, and two original musicals: Soul Notes and Puppets and Shadows. Dana has studied Balinese shadow puppetry, masked-dance drama, Dervish dancing, Cham mysteries, Commedia dell’Arte, and Beijing opera as part of the Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory. She has also taught theater in Namibia and researched Afro-Brazilian dances and tango in South America.